British and American children who are less intelligent are more likely to grow up to be conservative and/or bigots, according to new research published in Physiological Science.

The research study, "Bright minds and dark attitudes", used data from two British studies that tested the intelligence of children born in 1958 and 1970. The tests were carried out when the children were around 10 years old, and then when they reached their 30s the subjects were quizzed on their political views. Data was also used from a similar study in the US, where attitudes towards homosexuality were checked.

We found that lower general intelligence in childhood predicts greater racism in adulthood, and this effect was largely mediated via conservative ideology, said Professor Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario. A secondary analysis of a US data set confirmed a predictive effect of poor abstract-reasoning skills on antihomosexual prejudice, a relation partially mediated by both authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact.